West Bromwich Albion 3 - Chelsea 3

Date:	Saturday 26th September 2020
Competition:	Premier League
WBA: 6.8	Johnstone 4.1, Furlong 5.9, Ajayi 6.9, Bartley 6.7, O'Shea 5.8, Townsend 6.4, Pereira 7.8 (Field, 91 5.5), Livermore 6.8, Sawyers 6.2, Diangana 6.6 (Phillips, 74 4.3), Robinson 8.1 (Robson-Kanu, 66 5.1) Unused subs: Button, Harper, Edwards, Kipré Manager: Slaven Bilic 6.0
Chelsea: 5.3	Caballero, James, Christensen, Thiago Silva (Giroud, 73), Alonso (Azpilicueta, 45), Kanté, Kovacic (Hudson-Odoi, 45), Mount, Havertz, Werner, Abraham Unused subs: Arrizabalaga, Jorginho, Barkley, Tomori
Scorers:	Robinson (25, 4), Bartley (27); Mount (55), Hudson-Odoi (70), Abraham (93)
Referee:	Jon Moss (West Yorkshire) 5.0
Attendance:	0

oshawabaggie:

The lads must be gutted. But even though it feels like a defeat, if we'd been offered a point before the game we'd have taken it. Ironically, all the talk has been about the need for a goal scorer, but our defence still looks Shakey. I hope a fit Hegazi and Ivanovic will add solidity. However, when the disappointment fades, the team should take a lot of positives from the game, especially the emergence of Robinson as a decent striker.

So, that's three tough teams out of the way and we've had excellent spells against all of them...

We will get a better idea of our survival prospects after the next four games. Put your hand in your pocket and support Slav (and protect your asset), Mr Lai.

Brendan Clegg:

I’d forgotten what it feels like - that angry feeling of injustice when one of the big teams gets a decision that costs you the game. The heavy price we already pay for VAR, disrupting the tempo of the game, is supposed to be justified by consistent decisions. With all the ridiculous penalties given in these opening few weeks of the season, how was that third allowed to stand?

I’m too livid about it to offer many more thoughts on the game. I thought Bilic might have changed the system slightly to get an extra midfielder in but with Hegazi and Ivanovic not deemed fit enough, other than the keeper the first 11 picked itself. I really don’t rate Lampard as a manager so I thought if we were bang at it we might surprise them.

Opening half our front 3 again showed they can cause problems and signs we’re learning we’re they - attacks ended with an attempt at goal or cross so we won corners and scored goals. There were defensive lapses but we rode it out until half time with the clean sheet.

Looking at our bench, I can understand Bilic not changing it at HT and inviting pressure to soon - perhaps if there was more experience there or a Krovi to hold the ball he’d have done it.

We had to avoid conceding in the first 20 of the second half but, at this level, we conceded a soft goal from distance that the keeper has to stopping.

For their 2nd on another day we’d have got a foul but it was still too easy for Chelsea to score.

I thought Bilic’s subs were fair enough and both actually did quite well to slow the game and give us legs.

I can totally understand why he brought Field on in injury time - maybe Kipre would have been better to sit in front of the back 4 and just blast it? We’ll never know and regardless, their 3rd should not have stood.

There are positives. I thought they all improved from the last game and you really couldn’t fault the desire or fight. We now have a run of games where we have pick up a couple of wins quickly - with Gallagher, Ivanovic and Hegazi (and hopefully 2 new recruits) at least Bilic has some stronger options too.

SJ - 5 Did okay but their first and when it came was a hammer blow. Not sure we’ll keep a single clean sheet with him in goal.
O’Shea - 5 A real warrior, brave as a lion and learning well but got done too easily 3 or 5 times and only Chelsea’s profligacy spared us.
Bartley - 6 Gave it absolutely everything. Can’t knock him and he’s playing with a humble honesty, he’s just not good enough.
Ajayi - 6 Looks like the one who could make it at this level. Was a borderline 7 but got caught out once or twice.
Townsend - 5 On the ball I thought he used it well, cleverly and sensibly and he gives you everything. They targeted him with some success.
Sawyers - 6 Improved again. The fight was there; he was winning headers and 2nd balls. Some good passing sequences.
Livermore - 7 Covered so much ground he looked out on his feet at the end.
Furlong - 6 A good honest shift. Covered well.
Diangana - 6 Won lots of free kicks and got us up the pitch. A threat.
Robinson - 7 Another big shift, selfless running and 2 great goals. Works this system really well.
Pereira - 8 A few more performances like this against the big boys and he’ll be gone for mega money. On top of that he covered and defended like a man possessed. Just enjoy it while it lasts.

Phillips & HRK - 6 I thought they both contributed and helped get up the pitch. Phillips might be pushing for a start over Furlong.